The Silver Jews

The Natural Bridge (1996)

Greg Nahabedian

The Silver Jews' 1996 album The Natural Bridge is by far their best. It features a strong balance between the charming yet sloppy backing band behind David Berman's highly individual sense of songwriting. At times the record evokes the indie trends of the day - The Pixies are present to a certain extent and the influence of Pavement (Malkmus was an on again off again member of The Silver Jews) is there too. But The Natural Bridge has a kinship with Blonde on Blonde era Bob Dylan and some of the country experimentations of The Band.  

Stand out tracks include How To Rent A Room, Black and Brown Blues, and Dallas. All three could very easily have been recorded as solo David Berman tracks, but instead over the simple chord structures there are almost solo-like melodies that vary the songs and keep them dynamic and interesting. Even the last song on the album, Pretty Eyes, which is mostly a solo track, is so carefully orchestrated and arranged that it never becomes too apparent that you're only really listening to one player. A lot of this has to do with the strength of Berman's lyrics and his unique style of delivery.

There are low moments on the record to be sure. The Right To Remain Silent is an instrumental track and is mostly inoffensive background noise. Most days The Frontier Index feels like a chore to get through. On later records The Silver Jews would adopt more humor and the musicians get increasingly more confident and proficient but The Natural Bridge is them at their best. It features the best mix of everything The Silver Jews had to offer.